Review: Nerf Modulus Recon MkII

This new Modulus version of the Recon is technically the third iteration of the original Recon blaster (and could be considered the spiritual ancestor of the current Modulus lineup), counting the Retaliator as the second. That said, the Recon Mk II is a fairly average addition. The included stock extension is solid, if not really long enough. The inclusion of a six dart magazine rather than a 12 is also disappointing (it's also the old pre-Elite style with both sides opaque), while the lack of forehand grip is kind of understandable (I'm not generally a fan of those).

Another annoyance (on my blaster at least), barrel extensions of all sorts are a loose fit. It looks as though Hasbro have been going the cheap route over the past year or two, and no longer pay quite as much attention to the fit as they used to. Many of the older barrel extensions had a small plastic springy nub that would fit into a small divot on the blaster and help hold the extension in place (even the Modulus Barrel Extender has this). Without this, it's very hit or miss as to how well the blaster extension fits (for example my new Ionfire fits all my barrel extensions perfectly). Possibly a small dollop of silicone might help, we'll see... And to top things off, this barrel extender has two more issues: first, the rifling goes the wrong way! It spirals in the opposite direction to at least three other barrels I checked (this would be more of an issue if the rifling actually did anything). Second, the plastic ring that actually holds the extension to the blaster is loose (see picture below), meaning the extension is loose on nearly all my blasters. I don't know if this is a general problem, or I just got unlucky, please leave a comment below if you have/haven't got the same issue. Either way, it kinda sucks.

Bare bones

One more change from the Retaliator is the addition of an actually useable tactical rail on right hand side of the blaster! There's also the completely wasted one on the top of the cocking grip. I honestly don't know of anything you could put there that wouldn't interfere with cocking the blaster, but I guess two rails sounds better in the marketing material. Sizing is good; the grip is quite comfortable for a larger hand. Functionally, there's no real changes. As with all non-flywheel clip system blasters, you need to half cock the blaster to eject or insert the clip. Performance appears about standard for the Elite line, despite the claimed 27 meter range. And as seems fairly standard, the new Recon II comes with six of the Modulus white/orange darts (code J).

Box front

Looking down the barrel

All in all, while this is actually a slight step down from the Retaliator functionally, it's a minor improvement in appearance.